By Mike Sebalu
A Ugandan pilot has been confirmed dead after a privately chartered plane he was in charge of crashed in the thick Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) forests.
Capt. Jackson Ninsiima, 34 hailing from Kiruhura district, and another only identified as Peter, a Russian national died on the spot after the plane they were piloting crashed and immediately caught fire.
It has been reported that the private plane en route to Goma from Kasese, went on Thursday last week until a search indicated that it had crashed in one of the thick forests in the DRC.
Kiruhuura district local government Chairperson, Mukago Daniel Rutetebya confirmed the demise of their son.
“Of course this was a private jet and it was carrying cargo and this young man is a pilot, they were flying from Kasese to Goma and the plane crashed. I think we will get more information when they recover the black bock but that is how he met his demise,” Rutetebya told KFM.
He added, “He was supposed to land in Goma by 3 in the evening, so we got the information at 9 pm in the night (Sunday) that they cannot trace the plane on the radar, so they started the search,”
Mr. Mukago said those who worked with Captain Jackson informed them (his family) of the tragic news.
“Those who worked with him called the wife and informed her and the father was informed and I believe even the President called the father but that was before the recovery” Rutetebya said adding that “Of course, we were talking to the coordinators, those who were coordinating and searching some of them are from our area, so finally, they recovered the crash site of that plane yesterday (Sunday). ‘Now they have taken the ashes to Congo to do the DNA then we will be informed.”
